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Why did Justin Lee Collins get such a lenient sentence? | Maya Wolfe-Robinsonhttps://www.theguardian.com/law/guardian-law-blog/2012/oct/10/justin-lee-collins-lenient-sentence
It is hard to reconcile the comedian receiving community service with Matthew Woods facing a 12 weeks custodial sentence<p>Another day, another uproar about sentencing. In the last two days, we've had domestic violence campaigners <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/oct/09/justin-lee-collins-guilty-harassing">expressing disappointment</a> that Justin Lee Collins received a "derisory" 140 hours of community service after being convicted of harassment, while free speech campaigners <a href="http://blog.indexoncensorship.org/2012/10/08/matthew-woods-conviction-april-jones-facebook-censorship/">express concern </a>that Matthew Woods has been imprisoned for 12 weeks for making "grossly offensive" jokes about missing schoolgirl April Jones. </p><p>It's never a simple case of comparing sentences like for like, as the nature of punishment will depend on several factors. However, both crimes come under the general criminal justice patchwork of protection against harassment, so why did Collins seemingly get off so lightly? Or, rather, is Woods's sentence part of what seems like a worrying obsession for punishing free speech?</p><p>"A person whose course of conduct causes another to fear, on at least two occasions, that violence will be used against him is guilty of an offence if he knows or ought to know that his course of conduct will cause the other so to fear on each of those occasions."</p><p>"What may explain the lenient sentence is the nature of the charge. A lot of individual incidents have been mentioned in the reports of [Larke's] evidence but in order to convict [Collins], the jury only had to be sure of two incidents of putting the victim in fear of violence. The judge will have formed his view on the basis on which he would sentence - which may not have included the most serious allegations."</p><p>"clear evidence in this case that the defendant had subjected the complainant to physical, psychological and verbal abuse during the course of their relationship. A unique feature of this case is the presence of voice recordings of some of the abuse, which supported the allegation." </p><p>"It is important to charge an offence which accurately reflects the criminality of the accused. Domestic violence often takes the form of a number of incidents which in themselves might appear relatively minor, but have a greater cumulative effect. The offence of harassment invited the jury to consider what was a course of conduct over the nine month relationship."</p><p>"It's difficult to comment further on [Collins's] sentence without having heard the full evidence and mitigation. I agree, it's difficult to reconcile the two cases although Woods was sentenced in the magistrates' court, where they are often perceived to be more enamoured with prison as a solution."</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/guardian-law-blog/2012/oct/10/justin-lee-collins-lenient-sentence">Continue reading...</a>SentencingUK criminal justiceLawCrimeUK newsComedyCultureDomestic violenceSocietyWed, 10 Oct 2012 15:56:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/law/guardian-law-blog/2012/oct/10/justin-lee-collins-lenient-sentencePhotograph: Perry Smylie/Rex FeaturesJustin Lee Collins was found guilty of harassment and sentenced to 140 hours of community service Photograph: Perry Smylie/Rex FeaturesPhotograph: Perry Smylie/Rex FeaturesJustin Lee Collins was found guilty of harassment and sentenced to 140 hours of community service Photograph: Perry Smylie/Rex FeaturesMaya Wolfe-Robinson2012-10-10T15:56:00Z